


The Druid of Dragon's Edge

by silverlysilence



Series: Heart of a Dragon's Soul [2]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: M/M, Magic, Mythical Beings & Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-03
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-09-28 00:31:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10059080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverlysilence/pseuds/silverlysilence
Summary: When Jack sees the pack of familiar dragons heading back to the Dragon's Edge, he's eager to see his friend - and Hiccup, especially Hiccup - after holding down the fort by himself for over a week. However, they didn't come back alone and instead brought along an old friend, but that's not all. Exactly what troubles has Heather brought with her? And will the Dragon Riders of Berk be enough to help her? Or will it take a little magic from a Druid to change things?





	1. Traveling Dragon Rider

**Author's Note:**

> This is a "Has Dragon, Will Travel" redux in line with my other fic, Soul of a Druid. Best to read that one first, although, this one will not be as nearly long as that with 3-4 chapters.

The tree branches lashed out across his body, missing his face only because he had enough sense to hold up his arms in protection, as he flew through an area with no defined path. Not the smartest thing he could have done, but it by far not the stupidest thing. Besides it was the fastest way to his destination.

He had seen the dragons flying back – an extra one to the usual group but bring back new dragons wasn’t all that unusual – from the mountain he’d been scaling not ten minutes ago, and had promptly let go of the rock face he’d been clinging to. It had taken him nearly half the day to reach the midpoint of the mountain by taking the natural pathways with a side of rock-climbing, it would take him about the same to get back if he had taken the same path.

But he wasn’t taking the same path. He was making his own. He was Jackson Overland after all and he didn’t follow traditional conventions. He made his own path, even if it was through dense shrubbery that tugged at his blue cloak, pulling the heavy material away from his body. The branches scratched at the exposed skins of his arms but it wasn’t enough to draw blood. It was, though, enough for him to extent his staff – the three charms attached to the gnarled piece of wood jiggling with the movement – and hooked the croak onto a sturdy tree branch. Swinging himself up into the tree, the brunet used the dense cluster of trees to his advantage and jumped from one sturdy branch to the next.

A squawk from above had amber eyes darting up to catch sight of a flock of multicolored Terrible Terrors being led by Berk’s Alpha Terrible Terror, Sharpshot. Though, since they were no longer on Berk, the smaller dragon had found some competition in the local Night Terror population’s Alpha, Smidvarg. Another squawk had amber eyes finding said white Night Terror followed by a few of the usual black colored dragons flying on his other side. The two small alpha dragons glared at each other from across brown locks.

“Hey now, I thought you guys got over your differences? Now isn’t the time to start again,” the Druid huffed as he vaulted off a branch, performing a double flip, and landed feet first on a clear patch of grass now having cleared the dense woods. “Hiccup and the others are on their way back and they’re what? _Only_ _three_ _days_ _late_.”

If the last part came out as a growl, showing his displeasure, there was not anyone around to hear nor would there be anyone to warn Hiccup about Jackson’s ire which was directed solely at said Dragon Rider. The next time the Head of the Dragon Training Academy _suggested_ he stay behind to keep an eye out over Outpost Island and Dragon’s Edge, Jackson was going to steal Toothless and leave _him_ here instead. See how he liked being left alone for a week or two.

“Okay, let’s see if we can pick it up a pace. I want to reach the Edge before nightfall,” Jackson said to the two flocks as he put on a burst of speed, using a tad bit of magic to fortify his legs to keep up the bruising pace.

Despite his best efforts, it still took him over two hours to reach Dragon’s Edge from the mountain and it might have taken him another hour climbing down the cliffs had it not been for the zip-line Hiccup and Snotlout had helped him install from said cliffs to the Clubhouse. Under normal circumstances, the horizontal line wouldn’t provide any assistance, however, he had help. He didn’t even bother to break stride as he hooked his staff to the line and swung out into open air. With his unoccupied hand, he reached into his back pouch withdrew a small length of rope, and flung out the end, uncoiling the rope, all within one smooth gesture.

Sharpshot surged forward, grabbing the length and pulling it taunt. The little dragon plus Jackson’s original momentum had him sailing across the zip-line and to the Clubhouse. Dropping down to the deck, the brunet coiled the rope back into a neat array and stored it away grabbing before freeing his staff still dangling from the zip-line. Two weights rested on either shoulder and amber eyes glanced at the twin yellow Terrible Terrors. Taking a few dragon treats from his leg pouch, he feed them to Head and Butt who chirped in thanks before flying off. The other treats were then divided up between the two flocks of Night Terrors and Terrible Terrors who took them before flying off to eat their food in peace.

“Thanks for the assist,” the Druid scratched Sharpshot behind the horns and feed him an extra treat for his efforts. The little dragon chirped and rubbed his head against brown locks and with a friendly nip to the ear, he flew off to join the rest of his flock.

Heading inside, amber eyes scanned the room and found the fireplace lite and burning away at the few last few logs he’d brought up to the Clubhouse the other night, unlike how he’d left it before setting off in the morning which was one of two differences. His shoulders slumped realizing he was the only one there. Though, he was kind of curious about the second difference. Why, exactly, was there a giant hole in the middle of the floor?

With one last glance down the large hole in the floor and the steep drop a hundred or so feet below structure built on stilts, Jackson headed out of the Clubhouse in hopes of finding the other Dragon Riders at one of their huts. Movement below caught his attention and amber eyes were drawn towards the stables as the end of a tail disappeared through the open door. Hooking his staff to another zip-line attached to the stables, Jackson allowed gravity to pull him down to the lower building.

Taking a few steps towards the door, Jackson’s eyes were drawn to a dragon he wasn’t familiar with. Something which was a rarity with how many dragons he come across over the last few years and while the metallic grey dragon had large green eyes very different than other species he’d run into, it looked very similar to a Monstrous Nightmare with a long, slender neck though it had four legs instead of two. Yet, like a Deadly Nadder the dragon had spikes on its tail along with spines on the edge of spiky sail-like wings. There were protective plate-like scales on the more vital areas of the dragon’s body and a large horn on its snout. If the burnet had to guess, the dragon belonged to the Sharpe-class category.

Next to the unknown dragon was someone – who was definitely not one of the Dragon Riders or Dragon Trainees – he didn’t know either. The person’s braided long black hair identified her as a girl from behind and he thought he caught a glimpse of oddly familiar green eyes, but he couldn’t place them without getting a closer look. Her grey tunic could barely be seen underneath a dark leather hooded vest but it was her ragged pants and dirty boots which told him the girl had been living in rough conditions for sometimes. Whoever she was, she was definitely a Viking from the looks of the matching metallic-like shoulder guards, bracers, kneepads, and skirts that appeared to have been made from the metallic dragon’s scale plates.

However, what made two eyebrows rise up into brown locks was the way the unknown teenager girl was hugging Hiccup. They stood in each other’s’ embrace for a few more moments before the raven-haired teen whispered something into the taller Viking’s ear. Jackson was too far away to hear what she said and if he had been curious enough, he could have gotten the winds to carry her words to his ears as well. As it was, he just watched as the unknown girl released Hiccup before mounting the metallic dragon. With a parting comment from Snotlout and Fishlegs promising her a tour of the Dragon’s Edge, the unknown species of dragon took flight. Both rider and dragon completely missing his person as he leaned up against the stable’s doorframe.

Jackson couldn’t fault her though, because even Hiccup had overlooked him entirely. He could fault the auburn haired teenager however, especially since the Night Fury rider was at present shaking his head as one hand ran through his hair while the other hung limply at his side. A large sigh escaped chapped lips and for a moment the Head of the Dragon Training Academy looked more like the small sixteen year old boy the lost Guardian of Fun met two years ago instead of his current age of eighteen.

“Am I being replaced? Because if so, I’m defecting to the Outcast Tribe, at least then I’d be appreciated. Alvin has even offered to make me his heir instead of Hroar,” Jackson took great pleasure in the way Hiccup’s head shot up, vivid green eyes locking with his own.

“ _Jackson_ ,” the Viking looked as if he was standing in front of a Gronckle ready to spew molten lava on him. “Wait, what do you mean replacing you? What are you talking about?”

Rolling his eyes, the Druid pointed his staff back behind him in the direction the raven haired girl had flown off without bothering to turn around. “Should I even ask what that was all about?”

“Should you-? What, you mean Heather?”

“Hm, so that her name, is it? I was curious who she was,” Jackson pushed off the doorframe and walked over to Toothless. Kneeling down to the black dragon’s level and petting the Night Fury who crooned, bumping his head underneath the brunet’s chin.

“She’s a friend. We meet her three summers ago when she... uh… kinda stole Stormfly,” a slim brown eyebrow raised at the proclamation as the brunet shot him a look. “Hey, don’t give me that look. Alvin had her parents held captive and she had to get him _The Book of Dragons_ in exchange for their safety. We helped her free her parents and afterwards they returned to their tribe. Though, back then, she wasn’t so ‘intense and hardcore’ as Astrid put it and she wasn’t destroying ships.”

“She was destroying ships? What for?” Jackson asked standing up and turning his full attention to auburn haired Dragon Rider. “Wait, that’s why you guys were late, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, Mulch and Bucket witness her and Windshear attacking ships while they were out fishing with Scauldy but they didn’t get a very good look at her before she’d flown away. They reported the incident to my father and-” Hiccup trailed off with a sigh, running a hand through his hair once more, making the already messier than normal locks appear like a Terrible Terror’s nest.

“Let me guess, he thought it was the twins?” the brunet stated more than asked, batting the Dragon Rider’s hand away from his hair and tucked his staff under his arm while he proceeded to fix the horrible tangled mess.

“Yeah, Tuffnut even confessed because, apparently, it was something he had always wanted to do.”

“Destroy ships?”

“No, confess to a crime,” Hiccup shook his head which had the Druid inadvertently pulling his hair, producing a wince and earning him a disapproving look. “Anyways, dad order us to hunt down the real culprit and me and Toothless finally were able to corner her, but not before she stranded Fishlegs in a tree, knocked the twins off their dragon, rolled Snotlout into a river, and trapped Astrid in a cave.”

“Which was why you were late in returning?”

“Which was why we were late in returning,” Hiccup agreed wrapping his around the brunet’s slim waist.

Sighing, Jackson let go of auburn locks and leaned into the embrace. “So why was she destroying ships?”

“I don’t know, she wouldn’t tell me.”

“Uh-huh, and what are you going to do about it?” Jackson asked feeling the Viking’s nose nuzzling into his hair.

“Mm? Nothing for right now,” the Dragon Rider hummed, not bothering to move from his current position. “Right now, I’m tired and hungry and I haven’t seen you in a week and-”

“Enough said. Come on, you can take a nap in my hut while I prepare some food,” the Druid interrupted as he untangled himself from Hiccup’s hold and latched on to the Viking’s hand, intertwining their fingers as he pulled the tire Dragon Rider towards the exit. Toothless followed after them, bounding in front of Jackson so the brunet could climb on and his rider mounted behind him. “Oh, and for future references. I know you just tried to play me.”

“And yet, I’m getting away with it. You’re still cooking for me,” Hiccup smirked tightening his grip around Jackson’s waist as they took off for the short flight to the Druid’s hut. A few seconds later, he spoke up again, his voice higher than he would ever admit to as something Jackson said finally sunk in. “ _Alvin offered to make you his heir?! Since when?_ ”


	2. Tailing the Traveling Dragon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello All, here is the next chapter and there are a few reviews from Soul of a Druid I'd like to address.
> 
> First, I'd like to thank all of ya for the wonderful reviews that made writing this story worthwhile. However, there was a few constructive criticism reviews that I want to address because they were helpful but I was disappointed in myself for not getting my point across.
> 
> So, a lot of reviews pointed out that Jack never showed an interest in Hiccup in a romantic manner until after the kiss, which was true and I blame myself for not getting my ideal across. Jack doesn't recognize romantic feelings because he died as a young teenager and before that, he his only interact with people outside his family were those of young children save his mentor figure Gabriel. I tried to show that through his interactions and the back story about Maeve inviting Jack to her bedroom, but it would appear I failed.
> 
> As for it not seeming like Jack was looking for a way back to his time, he was but I tried to imply that he was doing so during the time he wasn't with the Dragon Riders since I wanted to focus more on their interactions with one another. 
> 
> Lastly, I know I never went on to descript the Guardians reaction to Jack's disappearance. There's a reason for that and no, it wasn't because I forgot. It's because I don't have time to write that side story like I was planning to. Sorry.
> 
> Once again, I'd like to thank those who took the time to give me reviews with constructive criticism to point out shortcomings. As Genesisfreak told me after giving me a review of 4/5 stars (thank you for that), there is always room for growth which is too true and I like knowing where I can improve (I don't like flames, those are just meant to hurt and not help).
> 
> And HeichouTheTitan, I'm holding you to the art you promise, but I definitely understand having other more important thing to finish before hand. Can't hate you for that when I have the same problem. :P

“She’s locking the dragons in their stalls,” Jackson narrated in a whisper as he watched Heather break off metal rods into the locks, keeping the padlocks bolted close. “I told you putting locks on _all_ the doors was a bad idea”

“Shh,” the Head of the Academy shushed the brunet perched on the overhead beam they were hiding on. The dark-haired teenaged girl hadn’t even looked up when she had slipped into the stables. Not that it would have made a difference with Toothless’s wings wrapped around the two humans sitting on either side of him and the shadows further obscuring them from being seen, but still, they were supposed to be hiding.

“Oh, don’t you shush me, Periwinkle’s _obscurata_ veil should keep our voices from being heard as long as we’re in the circle and are not talking above a whisper,” the Druid rolled his eyes as said fae chimed an affirmative. Hiccup stifled the sigh threatening to escape his lips and settled on shaking his head in exasperation. He knew for a fact the little Dewdrop Faerie could speak in the human tongue, albeit a little choppy, but she – and pretty much every Wyldfae now that he thought about it – spoke in their own tongue unless Jackson wasn’t present. “I’ve been trying to learn the _sceadu hine wreoþ_ spell, a shadowing spell, but I haven’t quite master it, _yet_.”

“I thought we decided you weren’t going to practice anymore spells unless one of us was with you after what happened last time,” Hiccup hissed out through clenched teeth, the memory of Fishlegs running to him panting and bawling about finding Jackson passed out on the floor still fresh in his mind. All because the stubborn brunet had been practicing a new spell and had overtaxed himself, passing out. None of the other Dragon Riders had been thrilled to hear about the outcome and thus Hiccup had passed a decree that Druids could not practice new spells unless someone else was present. Jackson cried discrimination, everyone else agreed with the chief’s son.

“Oh, look, she’s leaving. We better follow her if we want to get answers,” the Druid pointed his staff down at Heather mounting Windshear, but Hiccup saw it for what the comment really was, a diversion. Sadly, it wasn’t one he couldn’t ignore.

“We’ll discuss this later,” the Head of the Academy huffed, quickly mounting Toothless while the Druid climbed on behind him. A gesture to the sabotaged locks on the dragon cages along with an offered berry for trade had Periwinkle chiming softly in affirmation before heading off to fix the damages.

“Uh-huh,” Jackson humored Hiccup as the Viking shifted the mechanical tailfin and Toothless threw himself forward, following after the metallic dragon. They tailed Heather in relative silence, keeping downwind of Windshear to keep the dragon from catching their scent while flying high above in the dark-hair girl’s blind spot.

The flight was long, longer than Hiccup was comfortable with and he was glad he had listened to Jackson and taken that nap. It was one of the only reasons he hadn’t fallen off the Night Fury in exhaustion. The other two reasons being his harness attached to Toothless’s saddle and the brunet holding on to him from behind. Still, he must have zoned out because the next thing he knew was the Druid’s staff pointing to a longboat the Razorwhip had made a rough landing on. They were lucky enough the boat was anchored near a group of sea stacks and took advantage of the covering, Toothless using his long claws to cling to the rocky surface as they hung perpendicular on the pillars.

“Who’s she with?” Jackson asked even as the Dragon Rider was pulling his spyglass out of Toothless’s saddlebag and held it to his eye.

“I can’t tell,” Hiccup muttered, only being able to see Heather’s face partially hidden by her hood and the unknown man’s back. “Come on, just turn around. Let me see your face.” No sooner had those words left his mouth than his wish was granted as the man turned around to retrieve a scroll while also revealing his identity: Trader Johann. “Okay, this is getting strange.”

“What? What’s strange? Who is it?” the brunet inquired as Hiccup lowered the spyglass and against better judgement, Jackson let go of the Viking with one hand to grab the spyglass to get a look for himself. Hiccup, startled out of his stunned state, quickly reached behind him and grabbed on to one of the Druid’s legs to keep Jackson steady to prevent him from falling. “It’s _Johann._ Oh no, she’s coming this way.”

“What? She’s going to see us!” Hiccup hissed as Windshear headed right toward their hiding spot. There was no way Heather wouldn’t miss spotting them.

"Not if I can I can help it, _sceadu hine wreoþ,_ ” Jackson hissed the last part and Hiccup felt a weird rippling over his skin causing his hair on his arms to stand on end. To his utter amazement, Windshear flew right over the top of them with neither dragon nor rider noticed their presence.

“That’s amazing…” the Dragon Rider whispered as the spell ended and the weird rippling feeling over his skin disappeared.

“Thank you, I do try and see? No fainting this time,” the brunet grinned causing a vexed Hiccup to groan.

“The decree still stands, no practicing magic without supervision,” and this time, it was Jackson’s turn to groan, mumbling strange words in his mother tongue. Tuning the Druid out, Hiccup turned his attention back towards the longboat below. His lips pulling in a straight line of determination as he nudged Toothless off the sea stack and flew upwards, doing a tight backwards loop before heading towards to the trader’s seafaring vessel. “Okay, Johann, let's see what we can get out of you.”

Unlike Windshear, the Night Fury landed silently and with such precision the boat hardly rocked at all with the extra weight on deck. The lapping of waves against the hull was enough to mask their entrance and with the trader’s back to them, he didn’t take notice of their presence right away. Not to mention, Jackson really couldn’t help himself. He was a trickster at heart and Trader Johann made too perfect of a target. As the man poured over the maps laid out at the desk bolted to the deck, the once Guardian of Fun slipped soundlessly behind the trader and leaned over his shoulder.

“Hello Johann,” Jackson greeted way too cheerfully, causing the man to all but come out of the chair he’d been sitting in.

“Jackson!” Johann yelped, twisting around awkwardly to get a glimpse at the smirking brunet. His surprise doubling when Hiccup came around the table and glared down at the man. “ _Master Hiccup!_ Wh-what are you doing here?”

Hiccup did not look amused, his glare hardening to the point that it had Johann falling back heavily into the chair he vacated. “Really? You’re really going to go down this route? Okay then, how about telling me what just told Heather.”

“I'm sorry, Master Hiccup, but I've been sworn to secrecy,” the sniveling man attempted to pacify the Viking with a platitude of excuses. “The Chief of the headhunting Asmat tribe from Papua New Guinea couldn't part these lips!”

“Oooh! That sounds like a challenge,” Jackson chirped cheerfully as Johann made a bid to escape, only for the Druid to grab his shoulder with his free hand and forcefully push him back down, “and I like challenges. They’re just so _fun.”_

The trader took one look at the smirking brunet at his side and made a motion to move in the opposite direction to get away, but Hiccup was already there, taking his other shoulder and pressing him into the chair with a much firmer – border lining painful – hand. A loud thump had Johann jerking under the two sets of hands holding him when Toothless placed his front paws on the table and barred his pearly whites in the trader’s face.

“Really?” the auburn-haired teenager’s sarcasm laden words barely penetrated through the panicked man’s brain. “How about Stoick the Vast of the Hooligan Tribe from Berk? Do you know what trade sanctions are, Johann?”

“Two words that should never be used in the same sentence?” Johann offered, curling his arms around his body defensively.

“But they can be and it won’t be a loss to Berk. Guild Master Typhan has a vast network of contacts which have only steadily increased since he’s partnered with Firefang. I’m pretty sure he could take over your job of supplying our tribe without any repercussions to Berk,” Jackson added with a toothy grin while the Night Fury growled threateningly.

“Right then! Where shall I begin?” the trader only then jumped to comply under the threat to his livelihood. After all, Berk was one of his major trade route and without their business, he would be out of business.

“Thought you’d see it our way,” the brunet let go of Johann’s shoulder and began idly twirling his staff from one hand to the other in a complicated but mindless motion. Toothless snorted in the man’s face before dropping down from the desk and moving to the side, allowing Hiccup to pull up a seat across from the quivering man.

“Let's start with why Heather is out attacking the ships all by herself,” the heir of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe’s stated bluntly, making sure to tone down his threatening act now he had the man’s cooperation. Yet he had to have just a bit of edge to his tone to show he would go through with the trade sanctions if Johann didn’t fully comply.

“I suppose it would have something to do with her entire village, including her own family, being decimated by a rather nasty group of undesirables. She's made it her personal mission to avenge her island and her family,” the man began his explanation with none of his usual flair or long winded storied. Jackson frowned, a thoughtful look on his face as he leaned a hip up against the desk.

“By sinking and looting ships?” Hiccup asked incredulously, one eyebrow rising high up into messy hair which had the trader hesitating.

The Night Fury – who had been pacing behind the trader throughout his explanation – put a paw on the side of Johann’s chair and lifted himself up, getting in the man’s face. Johann was quick to react, scrambling away from the dragon only to fall out of the chair while trying to escape. He never hit the deck as Jackson’s staff whipped out and caught the collar of the fine silk garments the trader wore and pulled him back up right on the chair.

Toothless wasn’t deterred though, and got right back in the terrified man’s face, waiting for an answer. “She's not looting. She's redistributing back to the victims of those horrible crimes. Every thieving ship Heather attacks means they'll get back some of what they've lost. Of course, lost loved ones can never be replaced.”

“But why? Why now? Why her?” Hiccup pressed for more answers, slamming hands down on the desk and he pushing himself to his feet to tower above the older man.

“Many ‘whys,’ Master Hiccup, none of which I can address at this very moment,” Johann avoided the question and the Dragon Rider found himself slumping back down in the chair, face falling into his now crossed arms on the table.

“Johann, why do we do this?” the auburn-haired teenager moaned, his voice coming out muffled.

“Sorry?” the trader offered, yet it was apparent he was completely confused.

Sighing, Hiccup shook his head, something he was doing a lot that evening. “You know you're gonna tell me. I know you're gonna tell me. So why not save us both the trouble and just-”

“Tell him?” Jackson finished as Toothless stood behind the trader and let out a heavy breath on the man’s neck. Johann nearly came out of his seat once again, but the Druid’s staff on his shoulder kept him situated.

“I suppose you do have a point,” Johann nodded and hunkered down nervously, attempting to glance behind him at the dragon who had yet to move from his current intimidating position. “Picture, if you will, a brilliant sunny day on the Emerald Isle of Karantha when I received a mysterious correspondence from a little boy. Yet again-”

Hiccup had enough of the horrible diversion and slammed his fist down on the table once again, causing it to rattle as a growl rumbled through his throat. “ _Johann!_ Where is Heather going?”

Sensing that the Viking before him was at the end of his tolerance, Johann quickly and quietly divulged the information he had sworn to secrecy. Then again, at the time, he hadn’t realized it would be the heir of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe he was swearing to keep information from or else he never would have made such a promise. Heather might have been a valued client, but she wasn’t worth losing the Hairy Hooligan Tribe’s patronage. Neither was she worth the wrath of the dragon currently behind him, growling threateningly.

“It's not merely where she's going, Master Hiccup, it's who she's going after.”

“Dagur,” Jackson spoke up suddenly, catching both of their attention.


	3. Druids, Dragons, & Dagur

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First and foremost, I have a beta! I've never really had a beta before so it was a new experience for me, but I appreciate it. So here is my shout out to my beta, bookworm_94; THANKS A TON!
> 
> Okay, next, I've had some really nice reviews saying that my writing has gotten better even without a beta. Well, thank you, but that's just false. Someone, and I can't remember who, said they listen to my story through an app which had me banging my head on my laptop. Why? Because, as I've said various times, I read my writing how I want it read. In other words, I totally miss a lot of things, but listening to it makes me hear the errors. So yeah, the grammar has gotten better, but that's not me getting better.
> 
> Thirdly, for all those new readers (you know who you are Checktest 123, FuntasticFrost and unowenowl, just to name a few) just finishing Soul of a Druid and leaving me wonderful reviews, thank you and I hope you're reading this story and reviewing here too. XP

“Dagur?” Hiccup asked, vivid green eyes caught amber, and the brunet must have noticed the confusion because only then did Jackson continue on.

“You said you met her three summers ago, which was a summer before you met me. The only attacks to have happened since I came to the archipelago were those perpetrated by Dagur. It fits the timeframe, but there’s something that I don’t understand.”

“Wh-what’s that?” Johann’s stuttering was hard to conceal, confirming that Dagur had indeed been the perpetrator.

“There were no tribes completely destroyed. Villages decimated, yes; granted lives were lost in the attacks, but no villages were slaughtered. You should know that,” Jackson turned accusing amber eyes away from the trader and looked towards Hiccup, “the survivors came to your father for help and he sent Mulch and Bucket out with some supplies for them. It was the guise Commander Huffnut took advantage of and used to gather information on Dagur’s supposedly _‘secret weapon’_ – the one that never existed in the first place – which Johann told us all about.” Amber eyes moved back towards said trader, glaring even harder since the man had fed them the bad intel, leading them on a wild goose chase, on the behalf of Dagur. “The Dragon Trainees and I went with, remember?”

It took a moment, but it finally clicked with Hiccup what the Druid was talking about. “That’s right, we were dealing with the Screaming Death eating islands during that time too.”

“Which dispersed even more tribes to other islands. So, while Heather’s tribe might have been attacked by Dagur, her island also could have very well been eaten by the Screaming Death and the tribes had to relocate elsewhere. The only question is, does she know or not?” Jackson finished, looking over at Johann who was fidgeting nervously.

His lack of response spoke volumes.

“You _knew_. You _knew_ Heather’s tribe was still _alive_ and you _haven’t_ _told_ _her_? _Why?!_ ” Jackson seethed, his anger rippling across the deck as the winds picked up and the crystal on his staff began to glow ominously.

“Because, it would be bad for business,” the Dragon Rider gritted out through clenched teeth.

“No… well, not completely. I uh… knew no tribes were annihilated, but… uh… I don’t know where her tribe is… and uh… I didn’t want to give her false hope that her parents were alive?” Johann offered, struggling to defend his actions.

“There’s nothing wrong with giving someone _Hope_ ,” the brunet growled; the light from his crystal spiking before blacking out as he stumbled forwards. Hiccup shot to his feet, but Toothless beat him to the brunet’s side, steadying the swaying teenager.

“ _Jackson!_ ”

“Sorry, I think that spell took more out of me than I first thought,” the Druid mumbled out in apology, leaning more of his weight against Toothless. The dragon made a concerned sound which Hiccup mimicked. “I’m fine, just a wave of dizziness, don’t worry about me, we’ve got more important things to worry about. We’re wasting time, we need to get to Heather before she attacks Dagur. She’s not prepared to take him on; she _can’t_ take him on alone.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll stop her,” the Dragon Rider reassured Jackson, guiding him by the elbow over to sit in the chair he vacated, “you just rest while Trader Johann here takes you back to the Dragon’s Edge, _right Johann_?”

“Correct Master Hiccup,” Johann jumped from where he’d been trying to sneak away towards his cabin and quickly nodded his head in agreement.

“But-"

“ _No_ Jackson, you’re staying."

“Mm, fine…” Jackson conceded through a yawn, resting his head on folded arms while amber eyes drooped closed. His actions spoke louder than his words when the Druid didn’t put up more of a fight and that had Hiccup worried. “Be… safe…”

“We will,” Hiccup whispered into brown hair, laying a quick kiss on Jackson’s brow. Rounding on the trader who had been watching them silently, the Viking glared at the man. “Make sure he gets back to the Dragon’s Edge by morning.”

“But, Master Hiccup, Outpost Island is a day’s trip-”

“By _morning_ , Johann,” the Dragon Rider cut him off, not even bothering to glance at the trader as he mounted Toothless.

“By morning, right you are Master Hiccup. We’ll be heading off now,” Johann took a step back, even more terrified of the Heir of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe now than he had been when the teenager was interrogating him.

Toothless glared at the man, growling in warning before taking to the skies in hopes of catching up to Heather before she could engage Dagur. However, as they were leaving, Hiccup swore he heard Johann muttering nonsense about a randomly appearing sea stack coming out of nowhere right in the middle of the ocean which the Viking shrugged off.

Leaning down close to Toothless’ body, the Dragon Rider cut down on the wind resistance and shifted the tailfin’s setting and the Night Fury surged forward. If they wanted to catch up to Heather, then they’d need all the speed they could get, and despite not wanting to leave Jackson behind, his extra weight would have slowed them down. Without the Druid, they should be able to catch up to Windshear in time to prevent anything from happening.

They weren’t fast enough. By the time they found Heather night had given way to the dawn and the Razorwhip duo was surrounded by eight Berserker longboats. Worst yet, Windshear was desperately fighting against the multitude of chains twisting around her and weighing her down as she was reeled down towards the boats below.

“Heather!” Hiccup shouted, spotting the girl tangled within the chains wrapped around the Razorwhip’s neck, the thick chains too close to her throat for comfort. His bellow made in haste had the unfortunate side effect of alerting Dagur to his presence and eliminating the element of surprise he often relied upon. “Toothless, we have to save her!”

“Well, look who the dragon flew in! Glad you could join us, brother! It wouldn't feel like a family reunion without you and _my_ Druid… Wait, where’s my Druid?” Dagur’s voice turned from his usual maniacal glee to puzzlement at the lack of Jackson’s presence. Narrowed green eyes lost their perplexed look and became hard as stone when he whipped his arm out to point at Toothless. “No matter, I’ll get him later. Now, take out that Night Fury!”

Toothless dodged a bola launched from the boat behind him and nearly got himself trapped in the netting of chains coming from the other longboats. The Night Fury wasn’t about to let himself windup like Windshear and folded his wings in, dropping straight down. He pulled up at the last second, wings skimming the surface of the water to avoid the chains plunging uselessly into the ocean around him. As the Berserkers hastily reeled the chains back in to launch another bout of attacks, Toothless flew up and out of reach, vivid green eyes assessing the situation.

“Blast the chains, Toothless, now!” a plasma blast hit one of the chains holding Windshear and they made to make a quick retreat. However, Hiccup’s plan shattered when the chains not only took the blast but also dispersed the plasma into harmless sparks. “ _Dragon-proof chains?!_ ”

“Ha-ha! Nice try, Hiccup! You didn't think I'd make it that easy for you, did you?” Dagur laughed hysterically, pointing a finger at the auburn-haired Viking while curling his other arm around his stomach. Toothless growled in displeasure, circling back around the fleet. He kept an eye on the Razorwhip being dragged down closer to the water – almost within arms’ reach of the Berserkers – while actively dodging another volley of bolas and spears.

“Whoa! Okay, that was too close! Thanks Bud,” the Dragon Rider startled as Toothless suddenly swerved to the right and out of the way of a bola he’d failed to see. The unexpected jolt had vivid green eyes catching sight of the winches and the vantage point gave him an idea. “Come on, Toothless, I have an idea,” Hiccup leaned forward, diving closer to the water’s surface and weaving through the boats to reach Windshear and Heather at the center. It was also the perfect position to test out his theory. “If we can't blast the chains... blast the winches! Fire!”

Blue bursts of plasma hit each winch, one right after the other and destroying the machinery. With the chains no longer pulled taut, the metallic dragon surged upwards into the air. Heather, for her part, threw off the chains pinning her down and hurried to unsnarl the rest of the metal dangling from Windshear.

“Nice shooting, bud!” Hiccup praised as the two dragons flew higher still, making sure to keep out of range of the remaining winches. He was not prepared for Windshear to suddenly break off and dive back down, heading straight for Dagur’s flagship where the deranged Viking stood screaming at his men. Groaning, the Night Fury rider leaned back, Toothless copying the motion before falling back down too, easily catching up with the Razorwhip. “Heather, you can't take on Dagur and his fleet all by yourself!”

“I'm not by myself. I have Windshear,” the determined girl shouted back as Toothless was forced to avoid a few bolas when they were within range of the Berserkers once more. Hiccup growled as they flew back to Heather’s side and green eyes – too similar to another pair of deranged green eyes he’d grown familiar with – darted over long enough to glare at the auburn-haired teenager, a scowl on her face, before focusing back on the redhead Berserker. “I'm too close. I might not get this shot again!”

“But this is suicide!”

“I'm willing to do whatever it takes.”

“But are you willing to sacrifice Windshear, too?” Hiccup shot back knowing that would get through to the stubborn girl. He was right because there was a momentary look of uncertainty in her eyes and knowing this might be the only chance he got, he pressed further. “Heather, there will be another time. I promise you.”

There was a moment of uncertainty, before the auburn-hair Dragon Rider heaved out a heavy sigh of relief when Windshear turned around. The Night Fury hissed and looped back around again, easily overtaking the Razorwhip to procure the lead, subtly shifting their heading back toward Outpost Island. Hiccup was relieved when they settled in, flying in silence, since he was not in the mood to talk with Heather. There were more pressing concerns on his mind, such as his worry for Jackson and what the repercussions of Heather’s actions had on the Hairy Hooligan Tribe. Yet when the Razorwhip rider did speak up, he was ripped out of his disquieted musings.

“Blasting the winches, pretty smart,” Heather’s softly spoken words filled the silence. The auburn-haired Viking glanced over his shoulder, contemplating if he should answer or not. He had only just gotten his chaotic emotions under control but he was still on edge and raw, ready to snap at any slight. Nonetheless, Heather was offering him an olive branch and he couldn’t disregard it.

“Yeah, and a little luck never hurts either” Hiccup snorted before sobering up. “I talked to Johann. He told me Dagur destroyed your village... and your family. I'm sorry but-”

“Then you know why he has to pay,” Heather snarled, clenching her fists around the Razorwhip’s reins.

“I do,” the Dragon Rider agreed, remembering how he’d felt the exact same way when Dagur kidnapped both his father and Jackson. “But there’s something you should know. Something Trader Johann failed to inform you.”

“Yeah, and what’s that? It’s not like you’re going to change my mind. After everything I’ve been through, first, when I was a little girl, I got separated from my birth family-”

“Your birth family?”

“Yes, but I don't remember much. It was so long ago. Just a few pictures in my mind,” Heather’s face went lax as her eyes glazed over, a look Hiccup was very familiar with since Jackson had the same look when he thought about his lost clan. “I remember my father's hands. They were rough, like sandstone, but so gentle. And I remember the smell of his wooden shield. I don't think I was supposed to play with it, but he let me anyway. And this,” the girl held up a horn which had been tied to one of her three belts. “He gave me this horn. I don't know if it means something, but whenever I look at it, I think of him. I just wish I knew who he was.”

“I wish I could do something to help with your birth parents, but there’s nothing I can do,” Hiccup consoled the distraught shieldmaiden. “However, I might be able to help you with your adoptive parents.”

Heather snorted, trying to discreetly wipe away a tear from her eye. “My adoptive parents? What about them? They’re _dead_.”

Rubbing the back of his head, the Viking sorely wished Jackson was here to help explain things. Or Fishlegs, he was good at the emotional things too. “Uh… well, there’s a chance – a small chance, mind you – that your adoptive parents might be alive along with some of your tribe.”

“What- what are you saying? Alive? Where- where are they?”

“I’m not sure,” Hiccup’s shoulders sagged in guilt. “But I do know no tribes were wiped out by Dagur. There were deaths, yes, and some tribes had to be relocated, but not a single tribe was decimated. I don’t know where your tribe is or if your adoptive parents survived, but your tribe is out there. Alive and thriving.”


	4. A Vengeful Dragon Rider

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo... life has been not great but it has not been bad either. I've just had a horrible - HORRIBLE - case of writer's block and it's not just writing this fic but all writing. Heck, it's been anything creative in general that I've had a problem with, so I guess it's more of a creativity block than a writer's block. If anyone has any suggestions on how to get over stifled creativity, I'm all ears because this is just annoying.
> 
> Also, a big thanks goes out to my beta once more for fixing all my grammar mistakes. Thank you bookworm_94!

Heather’s mind whirled in an utter disarray of thoughts. She couldn’t believe her tribe was out there, somewhere, _alive_. The notion had all sorts of questions involuntarily popping up into her mind. Where was the tribe? Who had survived? Were her adoptive parents among those who were still alive? If so, were they even looking for her? Did they think she was dead? And if they were alive, was there even a reason to avenger their deaths? Did she really need to go after Dagur? Then again, there were all those other people who had died by Dagur’s hand and who would avenger them? Didn’t those people deserve to be avenged?

Letting out a deep breath, Heather shook the gloomy thoughts out of her head and rejoined the present. She shouldn’t dwell on the past right now. Not when Astrid and her were supposed to be having some girl time, something she hadn’t had in a long time. It had been just her and Windshear for so long that she forgot what it was like having company of that was not of the dragon variety.

The training field Astrid had taken them to was the perfect place to relax and have their girl time. Tall trees surrounded the area which had no doubt been cleared by the dragons to create the little space. She could see the places where the earth was just beginning to heal from the trees being ripped out of the ground, green grass peeking through the soil. Three stacks of three barrels were propped up in the center of the clearing, the top barrels of each stack painted with a target while a couple of small dragons – Night Terrors from what Fishlegs had told her – napped on top.

They had opted to take the long way to the clearing, giving the dragons some time to rest and have a little down time of their own. If Heather had known they would be trekking up and down mountains she might have declined the offer of target practice. The trip hadn’t been all that long but she’d gotten so used to riding Windshear wherever she needed to go that her legs weren’t used to all the uphill walking they’d done. In the end, the trek had been worth it.

Astrid didn’t even stop for a quick rest after the trip. Instead, the shieldmaiden picked up two axes from a rack filled with weapons and hurled the axes at two of the targets. Both weapons hit the bullseyes dead center within seconds of each other. What was more, Heather could tell the blonde shieldmaiden hadn’t even been trying. It simply was a warm up for her.

“Two axes are better than one,” Astrid smirked, turning around to face the raven haired shieldmaiden with a grand grin on her face.

“True,” Heather agreed pulling her twin bladed battle-axe from her back; she flipped the concealed mechanism allowing the spring to release the compact weapon to its full size. For good measures, she did a few twirls before throwing the battle-axe in a wide arc. The weapon spun across the clearing, chopping off one of Astrid’s axe’s handles imbedded in the target before sinking into the second target, dislodging the other axe. “Unless you have one of these!”

“You really have to show me how you made that,” the Deadly Nadder rider eyed the weapon with envy.

“Sure, but I prefer close combat to throwing,” Heather shrugged, picking up another axe from the rack and chucked it at the tree next to Astrid. The blade sunk into the bark a few inches but the blond shieldmaiden hadn’t even flinched, “so I can stare my enemy in the eye.”

Astrid nodded her head in acceptance, effortlessly pulling the axe out of the tree. “Not a bad tactic. But don't discount... Hyah!”

Raven hair fluttered as the axe passed dangerously close to her face on its way past the dark-haired shieldmaiden to embed itself in the tree behind her. “Hmm... The element of surprise. I like that.”

“That's one of Hiccup's favorite tactics,” Astrid hummed, heading over to the target barrels to pull out her two axes – or what was left of the one – and reposition herself for another go at the targets.

“So, you two are a thing, right?” the raven-haired teenager asks as she pulled the axe out of the tree.

Astrid, who was in the middle of throwing her still good axe, shorted as she followed through with her swing and hit the bullseye. “What? _No!_ Just friends.”

Heather pouted, crushed she hadn’t thrown the other shieldmaiden off balance with her comment as she’d hoped to do. “Come on. I've seen the way the you two are together.”

“No. Seriously. _Friends_ ,” the Deadly Nadder rider stressed out as she threw another axe and hit the target dead center once more. It was really getting on Heather’s nerves how skilled the other shieldmaiden was. “Bullseye. Though, if the stupid, unassuming, heroic Dragon Rider would get his act together and do something about it, then maybe he’d have a chance with Jackson.”

While her attempts to throw Astrid off had been in vain, that comment had Heather thrown and thus, her axe went wild and high up into one of the trees behind the barrels. Two Night Terrors squawked in terror, flying out of the branches a moment later, one of them carrying the axe in its talons as they flew away. Turning to look around to face the blonde teenager, two eyebrows disappeared into raven bangs.

“Who’s Jackson?”

Another rustling from the foliage put both girls on edge as the sound of something much larger than a Night Terror traveled in their direction. Each shieldmaiden grabbed for the nearest axe and took up a battle-ready stance. A second later, the two Night Terrors Heather had managed to displace with her axe came bursting back through the clearing followed by a flock of chittering multicolored Terrible Terrors, one of which lugging the missing axe in his claws. The Razorwhip rider had a moment to relax, her shoulders dropping and she shook her head at getting worked up over a flock of tiny dragons, which was why she wasn’t expecting a blur of blue to come bursting out from high above in the treetops, landing with a controlled roll before the person was back up on their feet within seconds and running.

“Hey Astrid, good to see you. Bye!” the blur called out before disappearing out of the clearing.

“What the-? Who the-?”

“ _That_ would be Jackson,” Astrid threw her axe. “Don’t mind him; he takes some getting used to. Now if we’re going to have some girl talk, what about you and Snotlout? That's a match made in Valhalla. I don't know whether to thank you or feel sorry for you.”

Pulling herself out of her stupor, Heather walked over to the target and pulled her double bladed battle-axe from it. “I can handle Snotlout. And besides, I'm not into the macho Viking type. I like a little smarts. Like Fishlegs.”

“Fishlegs?! Seriously?!” Astrid asked incredulously, giving the darker haired girl a taken back look.

“What? I think he's funny and cute,” Heather shrugged, collapsing the axe back together.

“We're talking about Fishlegs, right? The guy with the Gronckle?”

“Okay, all right. Enough boy talk. What else do you do for fun around here?”

The Deadly Nadder rider wasn’t given the chance to answer seeing as yet another rustling noise from the bushes drew their attention to the area Jackson had come from. The rustles, unlike Jackson, went on for a while and there were a few curses flying around before Trader Johann came stumbling out. The man was gasping for breath and held a hand to his heart, but upon seeing Astrid, he sagged against a tree.

“Johann!” Heather’s shout had the trader startling and his eyes bugging out at the sight of her for some unknown reason.

“Oh. Miss Heather! I'm overjoyed you're not dead. I tried to find you after you had left, even went to your campsite, but when I saw it abandoned, I feared the worst!” the trader babbled on, tugging at the fabric of his clothing and looking everywhere but at the dark haired girl.

“Johann, what are you doing here?” blue eyes darted back and forth between Heather and Johann, suspicion creeping into her features. “One of you needs to tell me what’s going on.”

“Miss Astrid! So nice to see you again as for why I am here, Master Hiccup required me to bring Jackson to the Dragon’s Edge today. But you see, we were running a little late and we had to dock on the other side of the cove due to the tides. Once we docked, Jackson said he could lead me to the Edge, but a horrible flock of Terrible Terrors came out of nowhere and attacked me for no reason,” the trader greeted and began on one of his usual long winded stories.

“Johann, the only Terrible Terrors out this far are ours and they wouldn’t have attacked for no apparent reason,” Astrid sighed and gave the man a look which asked him if he wanted to try again.

“Well, I might have, kinda tried to kill one of them when the purple predator swooped down at me with an axe in its claws,” Johann looked sheepishly. “Looking back, it may have been trying to give me the axe and I may have overreacted.”

“Yah think?” the Deadly Nadder rider snapped, hoping her own Terrible Terror – Sneaky – wasn’t harmed as she absentmindedly ran a thumb over the blade of her axe. “Now why don’t we get back to telling me what’s going on.”

Trader Johann gulped, looking between the two shieldmaidens and spilling his guts. “You see, Miss Astrid, if you need exotic spices from a foreign land, one-of-a-kind cured leathers, or incredibly difficult to obtain information detailing the exact whereabouts of a certain dastardly Berserker, Trader Johann is your man.”

It took a moment for it to dawn on her, but when it did, the blonde almost let her weapon spill through her fingers. “Dagur.”

“And if you need a warrior to take care of that dastardly Berserker,” Heather flipped her battle-axe back open and made a few motions that looked like they were meant to kill a person,” I’m your girl.”

“So he's got the info and you've got the axe. Now what?” Astrid asked warily.

The trader took that as his cue and pulled out a small scroll from his shirt, unraveling it to reveal a map with a big red circle around a certain island. “Dagur is set to purchase a fleet of new ships from a group of salty undesirables in the Sea of Despair. But be wary. These new ships for his armada are outfitted with powerful anti-dragon winches and catapults. After the deal is done, I won't be able to find him again. Dagur will be back in the wind. Adrift, like a leaf in a stream. And I've used my last grapevine, so I won't be able to offer my invaluable, yet expensive information.”

“And when is this meeting supposed to take place?”

“Three days from now,” Trader Johann answered.

“Got it. Thanks, Johann. Come on, Astrid,” Heather collapsing her axe and heading back to the outpost. Astrid hesitated, not sure if what to do before deciding it was best not to let the other shieldmaiden go off by herself. Turning to follow, the blonde halted again when she noticed Johann rooted to the spot.

“You're not coming?”

“I think not, I’d rather avoid Master Hiccup for right now,” Johann said, looking back in the direction he came from with a grimace.

* * *

Johann hadn’t needed to worry about running into Hiccup, because by the time they had gotten back to the Edge, Fishlegs informed the two shieldmaidens the chief’s son had urgent business to attend to back on Berk with his father. In fact, the Night Fury rider failed to return to Outpost Island a few days later and Astrid was becoming edgy. The approaching meeting between Dagur and the ship seller was fast approaching and she’d barely been able to talk Heather into waiting for Hiccup before going after the deranged Viking. With Hiccup still being gone as the deadline approached, the Razorwhip rider was advocating for them to go against Dagur without their leader.

“We gotta go now. Dagur won't be out in the open for long,” Astrid caught the tail end of Heather’s speech as she walked into the Clubhouse. The other shieldmaiden didn’t see her coming in as she finished informing the rest of the Dragon Riders on the situation at hand and attempted to sway them into assisting her in her revenge.

“Wait a minute. You want us to go into battle with Dagur and the Berserkers without Hiccup and Toothless?” Fishlegs questioned fretfully, looking to the rest of their team to see their reaction. Snotlout looked to be more interested in Heather than what she had to say while the twins were too busy punching each other for whatever reason to pay any attention to anyone else.

“Guys, I wish Hiccup and Toothless were here, trust me. But they're not. And we can't wait. Dagur's ships are rigged with dragon-proof chains and grappling hooks. And the ships he's buying are even more powerful. But with all of us attacking at once, Dagur won't know what hit him,” the dark haired shieldmaiden insisted, leaning further over the table, hands braced on either side of the map she’d gotten from Johann.

“I have to say any aerial assault of this magnitude would be foolish without Toothless. He's the most powerful dragon in our arsenal,” a nudge at his side had the heavyset Dragon Rider reassuring the Gronckle at his side. “But you're still my favorite, girl.”

“Well, it's not like we need Hiccup and Toothless,” Snotlout folded his arms over his chest before weakly admitting to the group. “But it's nice to know we have a Night Fury when things get hairy.”

“You heard Johann, Astrid. This is our last chance. Tell them,” Heather looked over the group sitting at the table and straight at the blonde still standing in the Clubhouse’s doorway.

The other swiveled around and looked towards the de facto representative of Berk’s Guard for direction with their current leader away. “Well... Look, Heather-”

“You too?” the Razorwhip rider snapped sensing Astrid’s hesitation before she could even voice her own opinion. “Just forget it. All that stuff about trust and having my back, I guess that was just talk.”

“Oh, man! Awkward,” Snotlout failed to whisper under his breath, eyes darting back and forth between the two shieldmaidens.

“What’s awkward?” Jackson asked coming around the corner and looked around the gathered group, a hint of sadness flickering across his face. “And since when was there a meeting? No one told me about it.”

“That’s because you haven’t been around,” Ruffnut pointed out, attempting to wrestle her way out from under her brother.

“Yeah, not around,” Tuffnut nodded, not even winded as he kept his purchase sitting on top of his sister’s back. The twins didn’t even realize they had effectively warded off Jackson’s hurt feeling for being left out of their conversation. “Where have you been?”

The brunet gave a halfhearted smile and shrugged his shoulders. “Around.” Looking around at the serious faces, he looked to Snotlout for an answer. “So, what’s going on, what’s this meeting about?”

“Heather wants to go after Dagur since Trader Johann gave her some information on where he’s gonna be today. The guy has got someone willing to sell him better longboats with dragon-proof winches and chains, but after the sale, _Bam!_ Dagur’s in the wind again. Astrid told Heather we’d have her back, but that was back before Hiccup left for Berk and now there are some doubts on whether we should be going or not.”

The Druid froze before his fingers started to mess with the dragon scale attached to his staff. “Well, I don’t see a problem. Go out there, make sure Dagur doesn’t get the better boats – sink them if you have to – and, hopefully, capture him. We can give him back to the Outcasts and let Alvin deal with him. Let Dagur rot there, much better than anywhere near us. It’s the right thing to do. It’s what Hiccup would do; he wouldn’t allow anyone to face Dagur alone. Not again.”

Astrid sighed but nodded her head in agreement. “You’re right,” turning to Heather she gave the girl a weak grin as an apology. “We're with you.”

“You can thank me,” Snotlout grinned wiggling his eyebrows at Heather while giving Jackson a nudge to the side.

“Yes, thank him,” the Druid rolled his eyes before they landed on the map sitting on the table. A glint passed through amber orbs before he strolled forward and plucked the map off the table. “And since you know where Dagur is, I’ll be keeping this so when Hiccup gets back, we’ll be able to find you. I’d suggest, if you want to get to Dagur before it’s too late, you get in gear and get going.”

“Right,” the other members of Berk’s Dragon Training Academy agreed, even the twins who’d stopped brawling to listen to Jackson, much to Heather’s surprise.

* * *

 


	5. A Resentful Druid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, I want to thank everyone for the suggestions on how to get over writers' block. It's been hard wanting to writing but nothing coming out. I've pretty much tried all your suggestions, from writing at different times and places to listening to music and reading hordes of other materials to writing something else entirely (if any of you like DC, go check out my 'A Hint of Smallville in Gotham' series). I even played hookie for the day which helped distress me (just don't tell my boss that I wasn't sick).
> 
> To answer RandomShmoe's question about the other Dragon Riders not knowing that Hiccup and Jack are in a relationship. They don't know.
> 
> Thanks and a late Happy Birthday goes out to Bookworm_94 for editing. Only one more chapter to go. :)

Heather was confused. She had thought with Hiccup away, either Astrid or Snotlout would be the one she needed to convince. Hence why she had chosen to appeal to those two individuals in particular for aid since she’d figured one of them would be the next in line in the chain of command. However, after watching the rest of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe members head out to collect the dragons with only a few words from the slender brunet she hadn’t even been properly introduced to, Heather found herself wondering.

“Hm,” the Razorwhip rider hummed, glancing back at the Clubhouse where the unknown variable stood, staring off into space with the map held in hand as the wind ruffled his clothing.

“What?” Astrid noticed the other shieldmaiden’s lingering glaze.

“Huh? Oh, uh,” the raven-haired girl turned towards Astrid, a thoughtful look on her face. “Well, after hearing you guys talk about Jackson for the last few days…  It’s just, I don’t know, I thought he’d be more willing to actually help.  You know, come with us or something more than just tell us to go.”

“He would be-,” Tuffnut started speaking, only to have his face meet the ground as his sister tackled him from behind.

“If this was anything else,” Ruffnut translated for her brother whose words were nothing more than muffled noises which soon turned into grunts of pain when the blonde Viking drove a boney knee into the middle of the downed Thorston’s back.

“Not that any of us can blame him for wanting to hang back,” Astrid let out a long sigh while shaking her head, yet the Razorwhip rider wasn’t sure if the action was in relation to her words or because of the twins’ antics. Looking back over at Snotlout and Fishlegs, who had similar expressions on their faces but weren’t paying any attention to the blonde Vikings wrestling on the ground, she had a feeling it was more the former than the latter.

Heather was missing something here and she hated being left out of the loop. “Mind filling me in on what’s going on here? I’m lost.”

The group shared a look with one another, confirming that there was indeed something going on that she wasn’t aware of. What was more, it had to be something big since it took both Astrid and Snotlout giving a small nod of their heads to get Fishlegs to speak up.

“It’s an open secret on Berk,” the heavyset Viking started in a low whisper before stopping to look around as if there were more people on the island who might be eavesdropping despite them being the only ones on the island.

However, by then, Heather was growing impatient with the lack of response. “ _What?!_ What’s an open secret? What are you guys talking about?”

“Look-” Snotlout took over for Fishlegs since the blond had bit his lip and refused to go any further after her outburst. More disturbing was the fact the muscular brunet had lost the flirtatious tone he usually had while speaking with her which was replaced by a seriousness she’d never seen on the usually arrogant Viking, “-before Dagur was carted off into the Outcast prison, he invaded Berk and-”

“-kidnapped your chief, yeah, it was the talk of the archipelagos. So?” the raven-haired shieldmaiden interrupted the tale yet again. She already knew all this; she’d been studying Dagur for the last few years and didn’t need a recap. However, from the glare she received from Snotlout and his sealed lips, she’d gone a little too far with her insolence. 

Astrid just shook her head and gave the other shieldmaiden a warning look before she took over explaining. “Dagur didn’t just take the chief, he captured Jackson as well.  He doesn’t speak about it and we’ve never pried – it wasn’t our place – but something went on while he was Dagur’s captive. He was easily startled when he got back and would violently react to anyone who’d touch him. He never hurt anyone, but everyone on Berk knows Dagur did something to him, we just don’t talk about it.”

“Dagur kidnapped Jackson? But... why? I mean, there’s nothing special about him,” Heather fumbled, glancing up at the Clubhouse where she’d last seen the amber eyed enigma. It seemed so far away now that they were almost at the dragon stalls, but she could hardly reconcile the skinny brunet they’d left behind with someone _Dagur_ wanted.

Oddly enough, none of the others seemed offended by her rude comment; Snotlout just shrugged and waved her off. “Dagur has a rather unnatural obsession with Jackson. No one knows why.”

“So what's your plan?” Astrid finally had enough of their current topic and forced them to move on. They needed to be planning and preparing for the upcoming confrontation with Dagur the Deranged, not reminiscing on past defeats.

Heather’s eyes immediately narrowed and a bone chilling smirk creeped across her face. “Hit him when he least expects it.”

* * *

Hiccup landed Toothless at the Edge’s stables and looked around apprehensively. The place was quiet, too quiet. There was no sound coming from below, no bellows coming from Snotlout because Pain had latched onto his arm again, no sounds of crashes caused by the twins, none of Fishlegs’ excited squeals at finding something new about the Night Terrors, and no demands for Hiccup to set up a better defense perimeter from Astrid. The encampment felt utterly deserted.  

“Heather? Guys?” Hiccup shouted out, despite not expecting an answer as he walked across a few of the catwalks in search of his missing tribe members. “Where did everyone go?”

The question was a rhetorical one, yet he got an answer anyways, which had the Dragon Rider jumping in the air in fright. “They went after Dagur, since you were gone, _again_.”

Spinning around, Hiccup’s hand went to his gauntlet where his dagger was kept secure in its sheath. However, he didn’t bother to pull it out of its protective covering when vivid green eyes locked onto the familiar form reclined on top of Astrid’s hut. 

“Jackson,” the auburn-haired Viking let his tense posture bleed away at the sight of the amber eyed teenager in better health than when he last saw him a few days previous. Then what Jackson said sunk in. “They went where? We have to stop them! We have to stop Heather!”

“What’s the big deal? They’re only going to capture him, that was one of the conditions Astrid made with Heather before they left on their mission,” the Druid snorted and when Hiccup opened his mouth to argue, Jackson continued on before the Dragon Rider could say a single word. “And before you start, I know facing off against Dagur is dangerous – I know that better than _anyone_ –  there is great risk in going after him but you weren’t _here_. A decision had to be made and I made it _knowing_ you’d be back.”

Hiccup groaned and took a step forward, wishing the brunet was down on his level to place his hands on the other teenager’s shoulder or something. Jackson had the habit of relaxing through tactile touches. Sure, the brunet might have been actively avoiding contact with people in general, but with those he cared about, Jackson unconsciously gravitated towards them and it always put him at ease.

“By Thor, there’s no time for this,” the Heir to the Hairy Hooligan Tribe whispered under his breath before continuing in a much louder level to be heard over the wind which had picked up. “Okay, look Jackson, I’m sorry, I’m really – _really_ – sorry for leaving again without waiting for you, but I really need to go and find Heather, she could be anywhere by now and I have to stop her before she does something she’s going to regret.”

Jackson snorted and rolled over to sit up on the roof, feet dangling over the sides along with a piece of parchment he held within one hand, amber eyes looking down at the Night Fury and his rider. “Unlike you, the others have the decency to tell me where they’re going before heading off, even going so far as to leave me a map.”

“You know where they’re going, where they’re at?” Hiccup gaped, his mind already whirling as vivid green eyes scanned the map held at the specific angle for him to see effortlessly. “Toothless can get there, if he flies at top speed, I’ll be able to make it in time.”

The jolt of the map had the Viking looking up in time to see Jackson’s shoulders sagging and his head dropping. All the earlier anger and vibrant life within the brunet seeped out as amber eyes darkened.   

“Us! I mean _we’ll_ be able to make it in time,” Hiccup quickly corrected himself, trying to keep the spine chilling shiver from going up his spine.

“That’s what I thought you said,” the Druid spoke in an even tone, hooking his staff on one of the support beams and swinging down onto the catwalk. “Let’s go.”

The Dragon Rider was quick to follow the demand.

“Mind explaining to me what’s going on?” Jackson asked after they’d been flying for a little while and the silence was beginning to rest heavily over the top of the small group. “Starting off with why you disappeared back to Berk after just coming from there?”

Hiccup didn’t answer immediately, instead he reached down and rummaged through the saddlebag before producing a horn which he handed back. The Druid took the item and looked it over. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary about the horn, it felt to be made of a boar’s tusk and the leather cord could use some replacing as it was faded with age.  He almost missed the  symbol engraved on the side, worn down with age but after spending two years on Berk, he recognized it for what it was. 

“This is your father’s Chief Seal. Where’d you get this from?” Jackson asked, curious since he’d never seen Stoick the Vast’s Chief Seal on a simple horn. Usually it was on some kind of decree or slip of paper with the exception being a few pieces of metal which were presented to Vikings the chief had honored.

The Dragon Rider tensed at the question and refused to turn his head to meet interested amber eyes. “Toothless found it in Heather’s bag.”

“Heather? What was she doing with your father’s Chief Seal?”

“That’s what I wanted to know too,” Hiccup let out a heavy breath and finally turned his head to look behind him, “especially in view of the fact that Heather told me she had been separated from her birth family after I caught up with her for the first time.”

“Birth parents…? And she has Stoick the Vast’s Chief Seal… you don’t mean to tell me-?” Jackson slotted the fragmented pieces together and he could definitely understand the Night Fury rider’s haste to get back to Berk.

Hiccup was already shaking his head before the brunet could finish his question. “I thought so too at first too, but no.  She’s not my sister.  My father gave the horn as a gift to one of the tribal chiefs in congratulations at the birth of his newborn baby girl.”

There was a pause which stretched too long for Jackson’s comfort and he had a feeling he wasn’t going to like the answer to his question; he asked it anyways. “Am I supposed to know who this chief is?  Because the only two chiefs I’ve personally met are your father and Alvin and you’ve already told me Heather isn’t your sister.”

“No, you won’t know this chief,” the auburn-haired teenager shook his head and took a deep breath before going on, “he died before we met you, killed by his son.  Dagur the Deranged.”

Jackson gasped, letting loose a few angry sentences in his native tongue only to switch back to Norse a few minutes later. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. Please tell me this is a prank because if it isn’t? By the Allfather, this is bad, very bad, this is worse than bad.  Toothless, we need to hurry up.”

“Don’t I know it, but we’re already going as fast as we can. The winds aren’t in our favor,” Hiccup tried to calm the now agitated brunet behind him, wincing a little as the deceptively slender arms tightened around his waist and the horn still clenched in the Druid’s hand jabbed him in the ribs.

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”

“Jackson! No! No more spells,” Hiccup stiffened, head whipping around to glare into determined amber eyes. But even as the words left his mouth, he felt the winds around them change and Toothless let out a pleased growl before picking up speed. However, even the chief’s son knew the Druid hadn’t cast any spells, and yet, he couldn’t fathom how the winds had changed. “But, how?”

“A Druid never reveals his secrets,” Jackson smirked and he left it at that.


	6. Have Druid, Will Keep

Once again, Hiccup arrived too late. It was obvious a skirmish had already taken place but it appeared that both sides were currently at a standoff, seeing how Heather and Astrid had Dagur bound and gagged while the rest of the Berserkers were holding themselves back in fear for their chief. However, the Heir to the Hairy Hooligan Tribe wasn’t too keen on the fact the raven-haired shieldmaiden had her battle-axe to the deranged man’s throat and it wasn’t an attempt to hold the rest of the Berserkers at bay. It looked like she intended to kill the redheaded chief in cold blood.

Not too far away from her rider, Windshear stood at the ready with the barbs of her tail flared out as the Sharp-class dragon waited on Heather’s order to skewer Dagur with a barrage of spines. Hiccup didn’t even need to think and nudged Toothless. A plasma blast had the Razorwhip ceasing her attack to shy back or risk being hit by another blast.

“Stop!” the shout rang out, halting all activity from the Dragon Riders.

Taking Toothless down low near Dagur’s longboat, the Dragon Rider didn’t think twice about jumping. He didn’t even need to look back to know Jackson had already taken his place in the saddle and was switching the gears, flying up and out of the Berserkers’ range. The two of them were too much entuned with each other – even when in the middle of a spat – and Hiccup trusted the Druid to have his back and keep Toothless out of Dagur’s grip regardless of him neglecting to fill Jackson in on his spur of the moment plan.

Instead, Hiccup focused on the deck rising to meet him and reached out, grabbing ahold of one of the sail’s ropes and clamping down to slow his descent. The rope slid through his palms as he swung down, letting go only inches from the deck. Digging his prosthetic into the wood, the auburn-haired Viking skidded to a stop right in between the raven-haired shieldmaiden and her brother.

“Heather, you need to stop,” Hiccup huffed out, laying a hand on the shieldmaiden’s shoulder to keep her from coming any closer with her double-sided axe. However, Heather was too consumed by her need for vengeance and wrath to be mollified and violently shrugged off the comforting hand.

“Move, Hiccup.”

Letting his hand fall to the side, the Night Fury rider gave her some space but wouldn’t give up. “You don't understand-”

“- _No_ , you don’t understand,” Heather snapped, cutting off anything further the auburn-haired teenager had to say. “I’m going to avenge the lost members of my tribe and all those other people’s lives he destroyed. Now is the time, this is it! Dagur is going to pay for the lives he has taken!”

The Razorwhip rider attempted to go around him, axe raised ready to sever a head, but Hiccup was quicker. Sliding into her path, he grabbed hold of the pole and held the weapon firm even as Heather put all her strength into the downwards swing. With his other hand, Hiccup pulled the horn from his side, snapping the frail leather bindings holding it in his haste, and shoved it at her.

“Look. You told me your father gave you this.”

Light green eyes broke away from glaring intensely into vivid green orbs long enough to briefly look down at the horn before staring right back up into the same pair of unwavering determined eyes. “He did, what of it?”

“This is my father's Chief Seal,” Hiccup stressed causing the shieldmaiden to look back down at the engraving on the side. The weight Heather was putting behind her axe lessened to the point Hiccup felt safe enough to let go of the weapon which fell limply to raven-haired teen’s side.

Shaky hands reached out to take the horn from his hand and inspect the faded carving further. “Stoick's seal is carved in my horn? What are you saying?”

“I'm saying years ago, Stoick gave this horn to the Chief of the Berserker Tribe, Oswald the Agreeable, as a gift for his newborn daughter. You were that newborn, Heather. Oswald the Agreeable is your father,” Hiccup spoke softly despite giving her the news rather bluntly. Turning to the side to allow her to see the bound man on the deck, the Night Fury rider continued as he lifted a hand and pointed towards the Berserker, “and he is also Dagur's father.”

“No,” Heather denied, taking a step back and away from Dagur. Light green eyes locking with a matching set of light green eyes that held a mad glint. The bound Viking shrugged his shoulders the best he could with his current restraints and muffled out what could have been either an affirmative or a denial.

“Heather, Dagur is your brother. You can't kill him,” Hiccup spoke up to pacify the otherwise terrified girl.

Not knowing what else to do, the distraught raven-haired teenager turned towards her only other friend on the boat. “Astrid.”

“I-,” the blonde shieldmaiden saw the uncertainty in her friend and wanted to do something to help, but Astrid Hofferson was just as blown away by the revelation as Heather was. She didn’t know what – or even if – there was anything she could say to make it all better. However, the Deadly Nadder rider didn’t even get the chance to get over her own shock before the whole longboat shook as boulders began to rain down all around them, creating huge waves in the water. Astrid ran to the side of the boat and looked to the horizon where blue eyes found four other Berserker longboats firing upon them and subsequently their leader as well. “It's the rest of Dagur's ships.”

Above them the rest of the Dragon Riders were busy keeping the boulders from sinking Dagur’s ship, if only to save their friends’ lives who were still on board. Meatlug was at the forefront of the attack, eating the boulders hurled her way and those that got by her were blown apart by the twins or batted away by Hookfang with a large gust of wind from his wings. Jackson stayed behind the three with Stormfly at Toothless’ side, close enough to the longboat that in case a stray projectile did get through they could grab Hiccup and Astrid before the ship could sink.

“Heather, we have to go,” Hiccup urged the young woman, grabbing on to her hand and pulling her toward Windshear.

A moment later, a boulder came dangerously close to hitting the vessel, knocking them all off balance and dislodging the auburn-haired Viking’s hold on Heather. By the time they were back on their feet, Dagur had managed to free himself in the confusion of the scuffle and two Berserker boats were drawing up on either side of the longboat. Gangplanks lowered onto the deck as the redheaded chief’s men came to his aide.

“I have to admit, you never disappoint, brother,” Dagur grinned madly as he brushed the ropes off his side and replaced his dagger in its sheath. A thoughtful look crossed the deranged man’s face as he scrutinized a tense Hiccup. “Or maybe you’re actually my uncle? Who knows in this crazy world?” Dagur threw up his arms in frustration only to dissolve into maniacal laughter.

Seeing the only opening they had, the Night Fury rider discretely signaled to Jackson to pick them up with a hand sign and inched towards Heather. He attempted to pull her back and away from Dagur, giving them the room Toothless would need to swoop down and pick them up, but was met with resistance. Looking the raven-haired shieldmaiden in the face, vivid green eyes found light green eyes locked on Dagur as he slowly approached a frozen Heather.

“Heather, come on,” Hiccup hissed, but it was no use. Glancing over to the side, the Head of the Dragon Training Academy was relieved to see Astrid already on Stormfly’s back and making a tactical retreat. At least one of the shieldmaidens had made it off the longboat and out over the water to safety.

“Heather, I'm the only family you've got left,” the redhead spoke, now only less than ten feet away from them. “Join me, _sister!_ ”

By divine intervention – or Jackson just being Jackson – Toothless landed heavily on the deck, rocking the boat and making both parties stumble backwards a few steps to keep from falling on their asses. The Night Fury bared his teeth and growled, stalking Dagur and for once the deranged Viking backed down, or at least backed up, further separating the two siblings and giving Heather some room.

“How about not?” Jackson quipped, showing as many pearly white teeth as the dragon below him.

“Druid,” Dagur growled looking away from acid green eyes and up towards Jackson. “Butt out, this is between me and my sister. She can’t fight destiny. I know she feels the Berserker blood flowing through her veins, don’t you Heather?”

However, when he looked over to where the girl had been, she was gone. Crazed light green eyes darted around the deck and spotted her climbing up onto the metallic dragon’s back. His mouth hung open in disbelief.

“What are you doing? Come back, sis! ‘Heather the Unhinged’ has a nice ring to it, no?” Windshear didn’t hesitate and launched up into the air, flying away with Dagur’s sister on her back. Never once did Heather look back. “You'll be back and I will welcome you with open arms! We'll have to wait on that reunion. Pity!”

Dagur huffed and turned back around to face the Druid only to find Toothless also flinging himself at the Berserkers’ chief before pulling up last minute, the dragon’s red tailfin slapping him in the face and knocking him down on his back.

The dazed Viking let out a groan, holding up one arm while pointing a finger straight up at the sky at nothing in particular. “I really should've seen that one coming, too.”

He also should have seen the rest of the Dragon Riders destroying his new fleet of ships with dragon proof weaponry. However, since shortly after making his statement, his arm fell limply to the ground as Dagur passed out from the blow to the head.

“All right, gang, back to the Edge!” Hiccup shouted from his position behind Jackson as Toothless took the lead and lead them all back to Outpost Island.

“Under the circumstances, I wholeheartedly agree with that plan,” Fishlegs’ reply came from behind, one that had the rest of the group chiming in their agreement. They did not want to deal with Dagur any more than they already had.

* * *

“I heard you were leaving,” Jackson said, walking up to the raven-haired girl he had barely got to know since her arrival less than a week ago.

Heather glanced backwards from where she was packing up a bag full of supplies for her journey and nodded. “I am.”

“Why?” the once Guardian asked, cocking his head to the side to take in the sight of the young woman who was still just a child in his eyes.

The teenager gave a listless shrug and returned to packing her sack. “I just have a lot I need to figure out.”

“And you can’t do that here? Where you’ve got friends to help and support you? Jackson asked, sitting down at the edge of the stables and staring off at the rising moon.

Heather snorted, not even bothering with looking back towards the brunet this time. “It’s not like you or anyone could understand what I’m going through right now. How much help can you be?”

“You’re right, I can’t understand. I would give my life for my sister, I even did,” Jackson softly spoke, fingers playing with the crystal on his staff, causing it to catch the light of the moon and refract the light in such a way that a tiny silhouette of a girl played across the wooden boards. “So, I can’t compare to you with your deranged brother. My father on the other hand? He was a real monster. He often beat my mom for no real reason, claiming that he was trying to beat the freakishness out of her and when I was old enough, I too came under his fist. I was scared when my sister was born, fearing for her when she cried and I made myself a target to keep her safe.

“I hated him. I hated my father for hurting us just because he wanted to make himself feel powerful. To feel above us and I wanted him dead.”

Heather, who had turned back around to look at the brunet Druid that was still an enigma to her, found herself staring, transfixed as the young man spoke. The light silhouette of the girl morphed and changed into a taller, older man that raised his hand to a light silhouette of a woman as Jackson spoke. The images continued to change and morph, reflecting the brunet’s words as he spoke until at the end, when a silhouette of Jackson appeared behind the man and the tiny girl, the light faded to nothing.

“So what, you told him off?” the shieldmaiden snapped, making a grand violent gesture with her hand and sneering. “Talked him out of it? Or did you run away?”

“No,” Jackson tilted his head up and towards the moon and away from Heather. “I killed him.”

Raven hair flew to the side as light green orbs stared wide-eyed at the brunet in disbelief. “What?”

“I didn’t murder him,” the Druid went on, shaking his head slowly and dispersing the thought from her mind. “I cannot take a life with my own hands, though I tried. It had nothing to do with being a Druid either, I just couldn’t take a life. And by Odin, you don’t know how much I wanted to kill that man but I just _couldn’t_.

“However, one night after he had a few too many to drink and – my sister, Annis, did something, I can’t even remember what it was now, but it was enough for him to drag her out into the middle of the woods in the middle of the night. He was going to leave her there to die – however he got lost. He tried to find his way back and in his drunken rage tried to take a hand to Annis. I had been following them – since it wasn’t the first time this had happened and I would bring Annis home after he’d left – and ran forward from my hiding place to scoop Annis up and out of the way. In my haste, I rammed into a tree and the jolt knocked a bunch of snow from the treetop. Somehow, he was buried underneath the large amount of snow while we were miraculously devoid of a single flake.

“I heard him moaning underneath the mound, demanding that I save him, but I didn’t; I couldn’t. Instead, I took my sister’s hand and we ran away, leaving him behind buried underneath the snow. I left him for dead and my inactions killed him. But I didn’t do it out of anger or revenge or even spite. I did it to protect my sister, Annis, and my mother. I didn’t do it for me, but for them. He was going to kill Annis, even told her so as he dragged her through the forest that night and I intervened. I may not have killed him with my own hands but it is because of me that he is dead and I don’t regret it for a second, because I did it to save a life, not just to destroy someone else’s life. If I had done it for any other reason, I don’t believe I would have been able to live with myself. Just remember that when you go after Dagur.”

The silence stretched for a long time. At one point, Heather had even come to sit down across from Jackson and just stare out into the dark ocean, listening to the waves crash across the shoreline. The silence was tranquil, giving way to self-reflection, and it was only when the moon was high in the night’s sky that either one of them dare to break the peaceful atmosphere.

“Jackson?”

“Yeah?” the Druid didn’t even bother to look away from the full moon, pondering what Manny’s current Guardians were up to right now as he was prone to do every so often.

“Did you ever regret it?”

Turning towards Heather, Jackson pulled a leg towards his body and propped his arm up to support his fist under his chin. “Protecting my family? My actions had consequences if that’s what you’re wondering. The rest of the village feared me afterward, despite not knowing the full story. They assumed, rightly so, that I had something to do with his death when my sister and I came back to camp all alone, but they couldn’t prove it and neither of us were talking.

“Regardless, the villagers were already wary of my mom for her Druid heritage, and with my father’s death, things only escalated. A few moons later, we were forced to leave the village and it was only because of Gabe we got out of there alive. He was the only one I told what had really happened to my father that night and he helped me get through my grief and anger. So, do I regret it? Never. Do I wish I had done things differently? That I had the courage to take my mother and sister and just get away from my father? Yes. But we can’t change our pasts. We can only change our futures.”

Another silence descended over the two. This time, they watched as the lights from within each of the Dragon Riders’ huts went out one by one until the whole island was dark and the only light came from the moon.

“Hey Jackson?”

“Yeah?”

“You think anyone would mind if I stuck around for a while?” Heather asked, a hesitant smile on her face.

Jackson just grinned. “Naw, I’d think they’d be thrilled you stayed. Astrid just so happens to have an extra few furs and blankets which could be made up into a really comfortable bed if need be. Although, for tonight, you can bunk at my place since we wouldn’t want to wake that particular shieldmaiden. I’m too tired to be dodging weapons right now.”

“I’d think I’d like that. A lot.”

“Good, then welcome to the Dragon Riders of Dragon’s Edge.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finished

**Author's Note:**

> I'm alive and totally not dead, yet. 
> 
> Here's my excuse for not posting despite wanting to. If you don't care, skip it. For those of you who've read my Soul of a Druid and the author's rambling, you'll know I've had problems with my job in the past and well... it just got suckier. Two - 2 - people have left since the beginning of the year, both of them higher than me and I've had to take up a lot of the work I've never done before. There's really no one around to help/train me how to do things correctly and when I do get things wrong, I get yelled at which leaves me mentally and emotionally drained. What's worse is someone else above me has given their resignation as well and what do they do? They decide to hire someone else, which I won't complain about because we need the extra hands. But what about me? Doing a heck of a lot more work and trying to maintain status quo? Do they offer me a promotion or a raise, at the very least, for the tasks I've pick up? Noooo. So, my fanfic writing time has suffered because I haven't had the brainpower to write and I won't for a while yet, so there's no specific updating timeline for this story as there was for Soul of a Druid. Sorry.
> 
> Thank you all for bearing with me. Although, I'm still waiting on fanart. I did try to contact a few people through email/reviews, but haven't heard back. Sadness, but understandable since I've gone offline. Still, I'd appreciate any and all work! Much Love.
> 
> Bookworm_94: Grammar Nazi please be my beta if you're still interested...although, I probably will go offline for a while after posting this because of work. But still, I'd be delighted to work with you when I have a fanfic writing life again.
> 
> Thanks all!  
> SilverlySilence


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